The Orphan and the Conman
by Moonlight Shadow4
Summary: (An "Anastasia" movie based story.) The whole royal family was killed by a single curse...except for one little girl who got away.... SangoMiroku.


_Disclaimer__: Why do you people keep making me write these?! I don't own Inu-Yasha! Hell, I don't even own the storyline this is heavily based off of! I own nothing! I'm broke! If I wasn't, and I did own Inu-Yasha, would I be writing fan fiction? (Ok, I'm cool…now…*wishes she had an Inu-plushy to cheer her up…*) Anyway: "Inu-Yasha" is the respective property (work of modern artistic wonder) of Rumiko Takahashi; Ocean Production, Shonen Sunday, Sunrise Productions, and other place that is allowed to lease his name for various marketing purposes. The storyline of this fic belongs to 30th Century Fox. This is based off their animated feature "Anastasia", though I will digress and move from the original storyline whenever I feel like ^^; however, this will be the basis. _

A/N: Sorry for that being so long but a few things. One: this is the first alternate universe that I've written based off a movie and not from my own head. Two: This is my first (mainly, though I will divert, as said) Sango and Miroku based fic. I normally focus on Inu-Yasha and Kagome, but this just sounded more Miroku and Sango like. Three: I am changing the names of the countries and cities; let's just say it's a made-up place, so-to-speak. (Index at bottom of chapters when new place appears.) I will change some of the lines, some slightly at times. For example, the empress's lines are going to a bit altered. 

_Prelude: _The Dream that Shattered

                Softly, the twinkling of miniature chimes played as the hand painted figures of a fine nobleman and a young woman waltzed around and around in their routine orbit upon their circular platform of mutedly painted flowers. As the music faded, the couple languidly swirled their way back down to the depths of the bulbous bauble—which was patterned with delicate, intricate motifs fashioned heavily in gold and touched with jade of the same genre as the solid semi-triangular, silver-ball studded edge that spilt along the side, and over, with a single orb in the middle—and the lid slipped noiselessly upon them like the graceful swan with wings outspread etched upon it.

                An elegant, aged woman's hand reached down to snatch the song-filled trinket between poised, thin but short fingers from the table. The table was covered by crushed claret velvet and adorned with beloved black-and-white photographs that have begun to mature within their ornate, gold frames. Carefully, she placed the music box inside her red velvet handbag. The woman's graceful, wine-colored garb flowed gently from the golden cross-shaped bands that marked it as she held her handbag closer.

                The elderly lady proceeded down the fine, carpeted stairs of dark roses and made her way to a carriage that waited on the snowy street.  Two footmen stood at attention in their long, blue-grey jackets; tall, black boots; and square, beaver skin hats. The braid upon their shoulders swished gently as one opened the door and the other helped to usher the woman in.

                "Your Highness," he said with reverence as he lifted the train of her emerald cloak.

                The coachman, dressed the same as the two fellows below, sat tall on his seat as he flicked the reigns, urging the grey horse into a trot. The gentle Christmas lights reflected off the snowflakes that drifted down. The alabaster and gold carriage the regal lady was riding in rolled merrily along under the night sky.

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_                "Not so long ago, there was a time when our world danced with enchantment, filled with eloquent palaces and grand parties. It was the year nineteen-hundred-and-sixteen, and my son Aki was the sovereign of imperial Totaija."_

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                 The royal coach ambled sophisticatedly on its wide wheels under the high, arched gates of gold until they were within the confines of the lofty fencing of the same genus. Many other such horse and carriages went around the circle drive, each depositing its own refined cargo of esteemed individuals. In the same way, the seasoned monarch glided her way up the steps, beneath the overhang where sentries and a few chattering guests stood, all of which deeply bowed as she passed, and finally through the open doorway into the glistering room.

                Couples from the wealthy gentry, clad in finery, danced mirthfully in rows to the lively music upon the goldenrod carpeting, clapping their hands and swirling with many a-flourish. Everything glittered from the light of the many large, crystal chandeliers, making the ball as bright as day and not the time so soon after the gloaming. 

                The aged lady waved as she scooted over to a high-backed throne of gold and scarlet. "Hello, darling!" she called, moving her plump, little body into the chair.

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_"We were celebrating our family's three-hundredth-year rule."_

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A young girl whirled easily around a tall man with black hair the same as the lass's, making a silly face at the empress. The man raised the child above his height, causing the teal hat to fall from the top of her head. "Father!" she giggled as she spun around in his arms, aqua robes whipping with her, curled dark hair bouncing. 

                With a smile, her father released and bid her to go visit with her grandmother with a motion of his hands.

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_                "Though every bit of the palace glittered like a collection of jewels, none twinkled brighter than my dear Satsuki, my youngest granddaughter."_

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The girl, Satsuki, hastily took the alabaster stairs two at a time, clutching a slip of paper closely to her chest, skipping passed the three people seated on the lower tier. As she reached her grandmother, she stood shyly grinning as she handed her a drawing of a stout little girl. She clasped her hands together as she anxiously waited for a reaction; her grandmother smiled amiably at her, touching her fondly on the nose with her a finger. Satsuki's dark brown eyes crossed slightly as she giggled softly.

Unbeknownst to them, a young boy with obsidian hair fastened back in a short dragon's-tail had sidled out of the kitchen. He took a bite out of the shiny, red apple in his hand, which he'd nicked from the kitchen, wiping the juice away with the back of the tan sleeve of his tunic. His violet eyes peered at them with mild interest, especially so as he only watched the young princess's reaction; he could mainly see the back of the empress's throne. He munched quietly, pitching forward more on his favored leg while the other maintained his balance, as he strained to satisfy his curiosity as well as his hunger.

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_"She begged me not to return to Pryseli, so I had a special gift made for her; one to make the separation easier on her as well as me."_

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The empress was holding, in her palm, the music box out to Satsuki with a loving smile. 

Gasping, she queried, orbs wide, "For me? Is it a jewelry box?" 

Behind them, the boy leaned towards them even more, apple midway up to his mouth when a large, rather sleepy-eyed man grabbed him swiftly round the waist and hoisted him up. "Miroku!" he scolded in a gravelly voice as he began to march away from the great hall. "You're not supposed to be out here! You're supposed to be studying!"

Miroku flailed and writhed, dropping his barely eaten fruit to the floor. "Ugh! Mushin, let me go!" he cried whilst he struggled, banging furiously on the forearms that restrained him, but the man was stronger than he, making it a futile effort.

Not noticing of the ordeal going on by the kitchen hall, Satsuki observed in fascination as her grandmother took a minute disk of gold and placed it in the indentation on the side of the trinket. "Look, child," she instructed.

Almost instantly, the lid flipped open and a couple that greatly resembled her mother and father waltzed gradually upward, soothing timbre playing. "It plays our lullaby!" she exclaimed in a rather low voice.

"When night falls, you can listen to it, and pretend I'm singing to you, Satsuki." Serenely, the old woman began to sing, "On the wind, 'crossed the sea, hear this song and remember—"

Joining in, Satsuki sang in a high soprano only a child could reach effectively as she danced, "Soon you'll be home with me, once upon a December." They laughed as the girl finished with a twirl, the gold thread of her robes glimmering as she gracefully curtsied before her grandmother. 

Her grandmamma held out the key she'd used out to her. "Read it, my granddaughter."

Accepting the token, Satsuki turned the round key by the tiny cyan triangles that protruded from it as she slowly read, "Together in Pryseli…." She thought for a moment as she digested the meaning, and when it clicked, the pensive mask broke to reveal absolute elation. "You mean it, Grandmother?" she asked hurriedly as the older woman chuckled with a laugh that came from deep in her throat.

"Aye, my Satsuki."

The young princess launched herself into the waiting arms of her regal grandma, nestling into the warm folds of the expensive articles.

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_                "But we would never be together in Pryseli..."_

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                The ballroom suddenly darkened as man clad in a white baboon skin suddenly appeared. With the hood pulled up and a baboon mask on with only a pair of glowing brown-tinted-crimson eyes coming through, he leisurely sauntered down the ruby runner with a demeanor of frigid confidence that made the guests hush in fright; one dropped her wine glass and it shattered, unnoticed by anyone else as they kept their glazed eyes trained on him alone, until he purposefully stepped on it, crushing it into even smaller shards. A few people gasped and recoiled even more into the throng at the abrupt crack. A rosy orb dangled from a string of animal's teeth was clutched in his hand, glowing, and pulsing with power as the light the emanated from within it grew shadowy.   

Trailing quietly beside him were two girls. 

One was but a child with pallid hair, skin, and garb, orchids in her hair. Held fast in both of her hands she displayed a ghostly mirror, which twinkled and shined coldly though the lighting was dim, reflecting the terrified faces of the people it passed. The wraithlike girl's eyes were akin to glossy, onyx spheres as was her face. Expressionless.

The other one was older, perhaps in late adolescence, with jet black hair contained in a simple knot at the back of her head with two feathers sticking out of the base of the style. She carried a white fan with red arcs on it, which she positioned downwards, wrist tight. Her countenance was contorted into annoyance and displeasure due to the deep frown embedded on her lips. Her pupil-less, scarlet pools remained slotted as she rather glared at everyone and everything in the general vicinity.

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_                "A shadow darker than death fell over the house of the Yoshida's. His name was Naraku. He had been thought to be a holy man, but he was a charlatan, consumed by power lust and perilous."_

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                "What are you doing here?" Sovereign Aki asked loudly, standing in the middle of Naraku's path, mahogany eyes ablaze. "Get out!"

                Gradually, he lifted one long-fingered hand and pulled the hood away. Lengthy, greasy, impetuous tresses of ebony wound their way down his back. The face of, what would have been, a handsome young man greeted the middle-aged sovereign; however, the baleful smirk that slithered its way over his thin mouth, and the hardened peering that roved over Aki, almost patronizingly, was enough to reveal him to be the most foul of creatures, either human or demon. "But, my lord," he began in a well-pronounced voice, feigning bemusement, "I am your advisor."

                "My advisor?!" the man's voice shook with anger. He threw his head back and cynically laughed. "Hah! _You are a __traitor! Get out!"_

                Though the sovereign's command rang solitarily in the silenced ball, echoing deafeningly off the high domed ceilings, Naraku continued to smirk. And then, he began to laugh—a slow, chest-deep chuckle. "You think you can merely cast me aside?" he queried with a sound of good-nature, yet his eyes grew ever more piercing crimson. He narrowed them slightly; the stripes of dusty blue on each eyelid gave him the appearance of having an extra set of eyes. "You foolhardy human…" he brought the strange jewel up by his cheek, it's eerie, pink luminosity casting menacing shadows in the valleys of his face as the sneer turned to a daunting scowl, "it is _I who will banish __you with a curse."_

                The people gasped again, making whimpering noises; the empress, Princess Satsuki, and the boy Miroku—he'd inevitably snuck out again—all made similar noises of surprise up by the thrones, safely several yards away from the madman below.

                "You're out of your senses…" half-growled the sovereign. 

                Naraku merely chortled. "Kukuku…. In the fortnight, your family will die. I will not cross to the other world until _every member of the Yoshida line is dead!"_ he avowed. Turning his gaze to the dark haired girl, he tersely said, the smirk slowly returning, "Kagura, give them a small parting token of remembrance--nothing to harm them, at the moment."

                Nodding, the look of aversion still evident, Kagura complied by raising her fan up to the ceiling and slicing through the air with a quick flick of her wrist. A blade of wind soared up to the chain of one of the swinging chandeliers and severed it. The huge mass of crystal smashed to the ground, fragments skipping over the carpet.

                With an expression of satisfaction, Naraku, Kagura, and the little girl were suddenly surrounded by a vaporous blackness. It swirled about, but did not go beyond them. Some of the guests staggered back, covering their noses and gagging as petite fumes were allowed—or rather encouraged—to drift that way.  Then, all three figures disappeared, miasma and all. The only things that remained were the crystal shards and the round burn mark where they had stood.          

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_                "Naraku was driven by his hatred for Aki and his family…so consumed, in fact, that he bound his very soul to gain the power from the enigmatic Shikon no Tama to eradicate them. It was with this 'Jewel of Four Souls' that he created the two essences Kagura the Wind Sorceress, and Kanna of the Void."_

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                Naraku sat in a gloomy castle on the floor donning the rich robes of azure and plum that royalty wore. The Shikon no Tama, with its shuddering shine of white light to black light, rested in his hand. Sharply, its glow flared bright and rapidly died to a dark illumination. 

As bits of the sparkling duskiness wove around his hand, the buzzing of rather large insects filled his ears. Out of the corner of the dimly lit chamber, many ruby orbs appeared. Gradually, wasps as large as housecats came into view of the flickering candlelight.

"Ah, so there are my Saimyosho." Rising to his feet unhurriedly, Naraku ordered in a rather playful tone, "Go with Kagura and Kanna and bring havoc upon that miserable Sovereign and his family."

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_                "From that moment on, whatever happiness that had been in our country was washed away with the oncoming rush of bloodlust that would devastate our lives forever."_

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                A fortnight later, outside the gates of the palace, a roaring mob banged violently against it, chanting loudly, torches blazing and weapons at the ready. Saimyosho made their way amongst the falling snow, fluttering through the incarnated breath, and used the venom of their stingers to weaken the locks. The rioters barged in like a pack of carnivorous animals, leaping upon juicy spoils. Members of the throng that were demons clambered their way up the marble statue of the sovereign and forced it off its pedestal.

                Kagura stood atop highest point of the arch. From her lofty perch, she called down with a laugh, manipulating the fan in her grasp various ways, "Ha-ha-ha-ha! Show those abysmal bastards, my puppets!" She jerked the fan up and then down quickly, eyes dancing like a joyous inferno…one made so gleeful by the siege, which would become so gory. "Make your soulless shells useful! Wreck the palace and slaughter all the royals! Kill the Yoshida family line of Sovereign Aki!"

                Hasty, garbled voices rose and fell, but only one word was made out of their demented chanting: _Kill!  _

                Those sounds made their way inside as inhabitants of the palace were being evacuated, glass shattering as flotsam and jetsam flew into the wide hallway. A few demons and humans had managed to get inside and were being held off by the royal guard—which included both warriors and houshis.

                "Hurry! Outside, children!" Sovereign Aki's voice could be heard before the man himself disappeared amongst the other family members and servants.

                Satsuki was being dragged along by the hand by her grandmother, still clothed in her informal dress and wine cloak. Unexpectedly, she gasped and pulled away, saying, "My music box!" She hiked up her dress and cloak and sprinted at full canter.

                The empress whirled around, brown eyes full of alarm. "Wait! Satsuki! Come back!" Seeing that the child was not going to slow, she followed.

                Pushing passed people as she wriggled amongst them with her petite form, she bumped into a boy with long, raven-black hair helping a girl with obsidian tresses to her feet; one of her ankles was terrible swollen. "I'm so sorry!" the young princess hastily apologized, only glancing over her shoulder as neither the boy nor the girl noticed her; the boy merely lifted the lass, whose face was streaked with quiet tears, into his arms and jogged off speedily. Satsuki paused for a moment, not stopping albeit, and trotted into her playroom. She dropped to her knees and reached into the top level of her pink dollhouse.

                Her grandmother soon scuttled in, shutting the door quickly behind her. "Satsuki! Come, child, we don't have time!" As the pounding of footsteps drew nearer, and the clashing of some of the royal guards versus their adversaries, she let out a muffled cry of alarm, gaze darting frantically around. "Oh, no…Naraku…he must be coming close…!"

                From a secret passageway in the wall, unnoticeable to anyone but the expert mischief maker, Miroku sat at in a crouch. Without hesitation, he flung open the secret door panel and motioned for them to come. "Hurry this way! You can sneak out back by going through the servants' quarters." He took hold of the empress's arm and gently nudged her into the tunnel. "This way, Your Majesty."

On the other side of the glass stood the little girl with the mirror, Kanna of the Void, emotionless. Turning her head, she murmured softly, "She's getting away." 

Miroku grabbed hold of Satsuki and began helping her into the secret exit, when suddenly the girl whipped around when something fell from her grasp. "My music box!" She started to double-back for it when he unceremoniously shoved her in.

"There's no time! Go! Go!" With her gentle, frightened visage still peering wonderingly at him, the boy shut the portal, spinning around and placing his back against it. Through the crack where the door was ajar, he could see a small girl clad in white and a few foot soldiers that had once served under Sovereign Aki trailing after him. 

But most disturbing was the tall, dark man with them.

Naraku.

The door flew open, and Miroku pressed himself flush to the wall. 

"Where are they, brat?" asked Naraku harshly, tramping closer, Kanna at his heels.

Searching for something, as he had no weapon with him, Miroku grabbed the vase sitting on the table to his right and hurled it with all his might at the man—if he could even be called that. It crashed against Naraku's arm, as he raised it to shield his face with the long, purple sleeve of his shirt; water and flowers splattered on the floor and the garment. With his lips scarcely moving, he mumbled, "I'll never tell…." He started to reach inside the front of his tunic.

With a growl of irritation, Naraku took another heavy footfall towards the boy. "Your insolence is annoying…." He saw what Miroku had retrieved and raised his palm to him.

Sinking down to his knees, the boy panted as he felt a searing pain shoot through his right hand. Glancing down, the sutra that he was about to throw at this demon was pierced, as well as his hand, thru and thru. The whistle of a nearby eddy filled his ears and he became transfixed for a moment.

Before he could see it coming, the butt of a gun one of the ex-royal guardsmen had come careening down onto his forehead, making an awful cracking noise that caused his eardrums to pop. The last thing he saw as he pitched forward was the trinket Princess Satsuki had left behind, right out of fingertips reach, when everything went black.

In the meantime, the empress and Satsuki scampered in the gloom, skating along the middle of the snow-covered, frozen river, holding hands. There was no one else going this way at the moment. Still, the regal lady said, hustling as fast as her heavy framework would allow, "Hurry! Hurry! Hurry, child!"

They slipped along underneath a bridge when they heard a scuttling noise not far to the rear of them. Whirling around, they faced Naraku himself as he leapt from the bridge. 

Leering, he lunged with incredible speed.   

Satsuki screamed but managed to dodge out of the way, taking her grandmother out of harm's way as well. 

"Impudent girl. Stand still and make it easier on yourself." Naraku frowned slightly and went after her again, this time with a sword drawn. "It'll only hurt for the first instant." 

"Oh, no…" Satsuki choked out, scrambling to get to her feet.

Without warning, a flash of dazzling white shot from somewhere above, piercing him through the abdomen and exited. His whole lower torso and both arms vaporized from the arrow that came to rest its point in the river. The thick ice began to crack beneath of what remained of Naraku; the sword had blown away, and the Shikon no Tama rolled out of view.

His head fell back on the rapidly thinning hoarfrost, so he was staring at the night sky. "You…." He narrowed his eyes when his gaze fell on the two figures on the bridge above.

Curious, despite their predicament, Satsuki and her grandmother glanced up to where the fiend was glaring. They made out two obscure silhouettes, one holding the other; the one being carried had a bow in its hands.

"What the hell are you standing around here gawking for?!" a boy's voice asked from the shadows, rather gruff in spite of the obvious youth that touched it. "Run for it!"

Not going against the advice, they spun on their heels and fled, just as they heard another crack, followed closely by a splash.

"Don't look back," the regal grandmother warned, dragging the girl after her.

The pair on the arched bridge waited for Naraku to start to sink and for the princess and the empress to get away.

"Are you alright?" the boy who'd spoken earlier asked the slumped figure that he cradled.

"I-…I'll be fine…" a girl's soft voice responded. She brought her gaze to where Kanna silently glided to the open pool of frigid water that her creator had just disappeared into.

"You used a lot of energy." Looking down, he saw the void child, too, as she aimed her mirror so it reflected the hole. "Come on. If she's here, some more maniacs are probably not long off." Holding the girl tightly, the boy used the slickness of the ice coated wood to slide down the arc and out of sight as a group of armed people stormed the other side of the river.

At the same instant, Satsuki and her grandmother had made it to the train station. Going around commoners, they barged passed the barrier. A steam engine had already started to chug along, though not at top speed yet. They hurried after the caboose, thundering by people on the tracks.

The empress managed to get aboard with help from some of the passengers. "Take hold of my hand!" she instructed, leaning forward  over the metal guardrail to make it easier on the lass.

"Please, Grandmother, don't let go!" The girl scurried after, clenching as tightly as she could as it became increasingly difficult for her to keep up.

It wasn't long before Satsuki's little legs were struggling and obviously jaded. As the locomotive sped up, determinedly bringing it's travelers to their destinations, it brought the empress and her grandchild apart; for the imperial lady's fingers slid off of Satsuki's fingertips as she desperately tried to hold on. The girl, naïve countenance caught in momentary horror, flew backwards and landed roughly on the tracks.

The empress fought against the pair of strong hands around her waist as she scarcely fell off the platform, arms stretching their full length to the unmoving girl that she was rapidly becoming distanced from. "Satsuki!" she cried, the humans and demons going about their business paying no heed to her frantic, dying screams. _"SATSUKI!"___

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_                "So many lives were destroyed that night."_

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                The palace laid in disrepair, still erect, but horribly battered on the outside more than on the inside. Paintings and personal effects were either ruined or stolen. Small fires remained as they subsided to embers. Some of the mob members lay motionless; others were muzzy as to the night's events, while others, still, remembered with either sorrow at their deeds or absolute pride.

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_                "Whatever had been was now gone, vanished before our very eyes._

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The grand portrait of the royal family had somehow remained intact, by some form of sadistic miracle.

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_                "And my sweet Satsuki…my beloved grandchild…. I never saw her again…."_

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A/N: YAY! I am so proud of myself. ^^ I hope every likes it so please, read and review. I love e-mail: hanyou_miko_dreamer@hotmail.com. Feel free to send mail. If you want, you can guess at the identities of unnamed peoples and places, if you'd like. Not much else I can say. I know, I'm supposed to working on "Shikon High" but I couldn't help myself!

Ja ne,

~Moonlight Shadow  


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